The recent introduction of the "TracMe Personal Locator Beacon" is causing confusion among consumers. If you are thinking of buying one to serve as your distress beacon...DON'T!

TracMe is NOT a 406 MHz Personal Locator Beacon.

TracMe is not a distress beacon at all. TracMe does not notify authorities you are in distress or provide location information.

TracMe is not suitable for use on backcountry adventures, in aviation or boating or for similar situations where distress alerting may be critical.

Doug Ritter examines the issues involved and explains why this misleading name could end up killing people. Doug reviews the critical differences between a real 406 MHz PLB and this homing beacon. TracMe may well have a place in the effort to save lives, but read Doug's commentary and you decide if TracMe is doing the right thing by calling their device a PLB:

http://www.equipped.org/blog/?p=65

If you feel strongly about this issue after reading the article, you might want to let the TracMe CEO know how you feel. An email link is provided at the end of the article.

Please help spread this around the web; help to get the word out and save lives.